Brianna Ghey's mother Esther says Online Safety Act does not go far enough

The mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey says the Online Safety Act does not go far enough to protect children.

Esther Ghey told the BBC "horrible content" would still be seen by young people because she did not think it would be deemed as "harmful".

"The internet and social media is so vast, I think it would be so hard to police," she said.

The government said the law was "world-leading" and non-compliance could result in fines "in the billions".

Ms Ghey told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I'm all for free speech but some of the comments I've seen on social media posts and some of the articles… they're just hateful comments.

"The [Online Safety Act] is not going to protect children and young people from seeing that kind of horrible content because I don't think that would be deemed as harmful."

The act became law in October 2023, with the aim of making the internet safer for children.

It puts the onus on tech firms to take more responsibility for the content on their platforms in order to protect children from some legal but harmful material, as well as given the regulator, Ofcom, more enforcement powers.

• Brianna's mum wants mindfulness taught in schools

Brianna, who was transgender, was 16 when she was murdered last February.

One of Brianna's killers, Scarlett Jenkinson, who was just 15 at the time, had been able to access videos on the so-called dark web - an encrypted internet browser that requires special software to access.

Jenkinson had watched videos of the torture and murder of real people before she and her friend Eddie Ratcliffe, who was also 15 at the time, killed Brianna.

Ms Ghey said she found it "shocking" young people were able to access this type of content on the dark web, explaining that she thought it was a "bit of a myth".

"I just don't understand how things like that exist in the first place," she added.

Since the trial, she has been calling for smartphones to be banned for children under 16 and has started a petition, which now has more than 90,000 signatures.

Ms Ghey told the BBC she thought young people, including Brianna, were "addicted to their phones".

"The way they have been created, it's based on the [gambling model]," she said. "It's [about] having that constant gratification from people.

"When I was young, it was so much easier to parent. Now the introduction of smart phones and the access to the online world, social media, it's just made everything 10 times more difficult."

She said smartphone companies have a "moral responsibility" to protect young people from the dangers of the internet, and should not just be focused on profit.

"Maybe there would have to be a law just to make sure it was properly enforced".

She told the BBC's Breakfast programme that it was "not feasible" to expect parents to be able to work full time, raise children and run a home, while also requiring them to be on top of the latest technology.

"Young people have so much more free time to teach themselves how to use phones," she said.

When asked what she thought Brianna would make of her campaigning, Ms Ghey said she thought she would be proud of her efforts around mindfulness but "maybe not the mobile phone petition".

She discussed her ideas about teaching mindfulness - a form of self-awareness that builds mental resilience - in schools in a recent meeting with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who she said had asked to see costings for the proposal.

She has already launched a local campaign in Warrington, which she says has raised enough to get a mindfulness teacher in every school in Brianna's hometown, and wants to expand this to every institution in England.

She added that Sir Keir had not made a promise to ban smartphones for under-16s if Labour won the next general election, expected to be held later this year, but insisted she would "keep pushing".

A government spokesperson said the legislation required social media platforms to enforce their age restriction policies, protect children from harmful content and remove anything illegal.

"If they fail to do so, they will face fines that could run into billions of pounds and their bosses could face prison", the spokesperson said.

"Esther continues to show incredible compassion and strength in unimaginable circumstances and the government shares her determination to ensure our children are protected online."

Ms Ghey also told the BBC that a vigil held for her daughter in Warrington on Sunday - marking the first anniversary of the teenager's murder - had allowed people to remember her "for who she was, rather than what happened to her".

"It was absolutely beautiful how people came together and showed that love for Brianna," she said.